10 Things Every Girl Should Know About Dating by the Age of 21

What are things every girl should know about dating by the time she hits legal drinking age? Well, the good people of Reddit, as always, have a lot of opinions on the matter, from wearing sunscreen to knowing how to change a tire. We rounded up some of the best dating/relationship-related advice, below.

1. “Be happy with yourself first, don’t expect “the perfect man” to swoop in and magically give you self confidence and make life wonderful.”

2.“How to keep a conversation going.”
“Good to use is this template: FORD: Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams. Not to be confused with this one: RAPE: Religion, Abortion, Politics, Economics. The second one is not too great at parties.”

3. “Pee after having sex to prevent UTIs.”

4.“If you receive more than a half-dozen warnings about a person, you would be wise to heed them.”

5.“How to be okay being single or alone.” (Need help with this one? Read this and this.

6.“That if you ever have to break up with someone or tell them bad news, have the decency and respect to tell them to their face.”

7. “Ladies – when you’re dating someone, usually ‘I’ turns into ‘we.’ That is a good thing. However when you spend more time focusing on several ‘we’s’ and not enough ‘I’, that’s when you start to lose yourself.”

8.“The reason the relationships will fail is this: Making it someone else job to make YOU happy, and to fill the void inside yourself, will put unfair EXPECTATIONS on your partner.”

9. “If you’re dating a perfectly nice person and you know they aren’t the right person for you long term, please don’t stay with them just because they are nice. You’re wasting their time and yours.”